A Boy Scared of His Shadow
by mcj545
Summary: The Doctor has just lost Amy and Rory and finds himself well beyond sad and resorts to hiding alone on hills. But one day, he meets a girl who just might end up helping him.


It was a cold day. The snow was falling on the Doctor's shoulders as he sat alone on a hill, the TARDIS parked some ways away. This was not an unusual occurrence now-a-days. Ever since the incident with Amy and Rory, the Doctor had found himself unusually down. He lacked all desire to do anything at all, so he had resigned to hiding alone on the nearest hill he could find, day after day.

This pattern continued for ages, no one ever discovering nor caring about the Doctor's actions.

Today, however, things were different. The snow had been rapidly covering the Doctor's shoulders for hours now, much quicker than normal. Out of nowhere, a tear rolled down his cheek, leaving a warm streak behind.

At that moment, the strangest thing happened. A voice, somewhere behind the Doctor, called out, "Boy, why are you crying?"

The Doctor was taken aback. He sat there, staring down the hill as though nothing at all had happened; hoping the person behind the voice would simply go away.

"Boy," the voice repeated, "why are you crying?"

"Who said I was crying?" The Doctor called back. "I'm not crying…"

"Sure could've fooled me," The voice, which the Doctor now realized belonged to a female, replied as she trekked down the hill to where the Doctor sat. "Now, how about you actually answer my question?"

The Doctor paused for a moment. This girl was unusual, pushy even, and the Doctor was caught way off guard. "I… lost someone recently."

"Oh," the girl began, "well, that's plenty reason to cry. Why hide that?" She sat down next to the Doctor, staring directly at his head. The Doctor, however, continued to stare down the hill, as though the girl wasn't there.

"It's just… This is always what happens," the Doctor admitted quietly.

"Whaddya mean?"

"She's not the first person I've lost…"

"So it's a she."

"Well, her and her husband."

"I see." The girl paused, unsure how best to continue the conversation. A moment later, "Go on."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"I'm a traveller. I usually travel with a companion, this time I took two. We travelled for a long time, we had many adventures. And then… they were gone. Just like everyone else."

"What happened to 'everyone else'?"

"I lost Rose in an alternate dimension, Martha left me, and if I even see Donna again, her mind will melt," the Doctor replied grimly.

For the first time, he turned and looked the girl in the eye. He saw sympathy in them, as well as wisdom far beyond her years. The girl, taking the opportunity she may never get again, too looked into the Doctor's eyes, and what she found were the eyes of a very old man staring back at her.

"You've been through a lot," she stated sympathetically.

"You have no idea."

A moment spent in complete silence passed. The girl rested her head on the Doctor's shoulder, the Doctor rested his head on hers.

"Why don't you try and find another companion?" the girl asked, looking up at the Doctor.

"They'll just leave too. Or worse. It's the curse of the Time Lords." The girl giggled. "What?"

"You're just a boy who's scared of his shadow," she replied, lazily trying to stifle her laughter.

The Doctor lifted his head up and stared her in the eyes.

She continued, "You let what's happened in your past haunt you, to the point where it prevents you from having a future. You're so scared to let your past just be a shadow."

The Doctor sat there for another moment. "What do I do?"

"Find someone," the girl replied, smiling. "And remember," she continued as she tapped his chest, "everything's all alright, no matter what."

"Thank you." The Doctor rested his head back on hers.

The two of them sat like that for the rest of the day, the Doctor enjoying her company, she enjoying his.

When day turned to night, the two of them stood to their feet and prepared to depart. The Doctor looked at his new friend and smiled. The girl smiled back at him.

"Well," she began, "I guess this is goodbye."

"No, not goodbye," the Doctor replied. "Never say goodbye, because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting."

"Yes, Peter," the girl replied, giggling.

The Doctor laughed. "I wish I was a Peter, but I'm only the Doctor."

"I'm Wendy."

"Thank you, Wendy."

"You won't forget me, Doctor, will you?" Wendy asked, a bit of sorrow filling her eyes.

The Doctor of course, shook his head.

"Promise?"

"I promise," he said, hugging Wendy.

The two shared this embrace for a moment before they parted their separate ways. The Doctor, like always, boarded his TARDIS and headed off for new adventures.

Wendy turned and looked at the spot where the TARDIS sat moments earlier.

"He'll forget," Wendy said to herself, "they always forget."

While they never saw each other again, the Doctor never forgot her, and their day together lived on and influenced the Doctor for the rest of his days.


End file.
